Attention!!! Pro Sports Daily will be down on Wednesday morning from 5:00am - 7:00am eastern time for database maintenance. All Sports Direct Inc. properties will be down during this scheduled outage.
Sorry for any inconvenience that this outage may cause.

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

ESPN: Andre Drummond 'a revelation,' could be next Shaq

By Sean_Corp on Feb 1, 2:01p

It's amazing what a little 18-and-18 game can do for your national profile.

Despite being largely forgotten in the rookie of the year debate with Damian Lillard and not having the inherent hype of being the No. 1 overall pick like Anthony Davis, the national media is slowly realizing just how special Andre Drummond has been during his rookie year.

Now, ESPN has a couple of profiles on the prodigiously talented teenager. Both pieces are part of ESPN Insider (completely worth the money for the basketball coverage alone).

The first is David Thorpe analyzing just what Drummond needs to do to reach even close to his full potential. His diagnosis is interesting if not exactly earth-shattering in its originality:

Improve conditioning and strength

Value position on the floor

Have a post plan

Play with balance

Thorpe's bottom line:

With his enormous upside, Drummond has drawn comparisons to Howard, who has dominated thanks to the same formula that made O'Neal into a legend: (1) incredible agility with a huge body; (2) great power and balance inside; and (3) the disposition to dominate the paint.

Drummond has the first box checked off. And he has shown flashes of the other two. Still, hundreds of talented men have shown glimpses and now reside on benches in the NBA or on rosters in Europe. Drummond is no longer seen as a risk of a prospect, but he needs to make progress in those latter two areas to be the best player he can be. Following the four-step plan above will help him reach stardom sooner rather than later.

Even more exciting, however, is Kevin Pelton's assessment of Drummond. And while DBB and others have brought up comparisons to Dwight Howard, Pelton says an even more apt comparison might be to the most dominating center of my lifetime -- Shaquille O'Neal.

Drummond can't match Shaq's prowess in the low post -- Drummond isn't nearly so skilled or physically dominant (O'Neal has three inches on Drummond, who is listed at 6-10). As with a young Howard, most of Drummond's scoring comes off other players setting him up. And somehow he makes both Howard and O'Neal, known for their free throw follies, look like Steve Nash at the charity stripe.

But the rest of his stat line compares favorably to O'Neal's rookie season -- when Shaq was a year and a half older and had two additional seasons of NCAA experience to polish his game.

As his role grows, Drummond must chart his own path. Maybe he won't get there. But the way he's played so far calls for comparisons to some of the best centers in the NBA over the past three decades. That's heady stuff for a 19-year-old, especially one coming off the bench.

The article also touches on a bunch of other interesting findings. One is win percentage, which Pelton says is the per-minute version of WARP. He charged the win percentage of every rookie with at least 500 minutes played dating back to 1979 (hint: it's a lot of rookies). Pelton is interested in visualizing just how productive Drummond has been compared to how little he has played. I am much more interested in just how few outliers there are on the list, -- and Drummond is among them.

Drummond is playing at 300lbs right now with that athleticism. Some of you told me I was crazy when I said he could play at 320 and be a Shaq-like dominant physical being just because of his weight.

That's different though. I won't discount his ability to play at a high level at 300+, but Shaq had moves. I'd love to see Drum develop a post game like that but I'm not getting my hopes up. But if he can utilize his size in a back to the basket fashion, he'll be unstoppable.

That's different though. I won't discount his ability to play at a high level at 300+, but Shaq had moves. I'd love to see Drum develop a post game like that but I'm not getting my hopes up. But if he can utilize his size in a back to the basket fashion, he'll be unstoppable.

I actually changed what I said because I never meant to imply he could be like Shaq, who I feel is the best big man to ever play the game. I was simply relating the space eating and dominance related to his body. You still gotta develop those moves.

Originally Posted by ACanadian

Nope Val shot better from the FT line, that cancels out all other stats.

but as to him playing at 320? maybe down the road, i'd like to see him play at a lighter weight right now especially if his back is bothering him, i know its a small thing but if left untreated problems grow.

if hes 300 get him to 280 and watch him snag pennies off the top of the shot clock with ease.

but as to him playing at 320? maybe down the road, i'd like to see him play at a lighter weight right now especially if his back is bothering him, i know its a small thing but if left untreated problems grow.

if hes 300 get him to 280 and watch him snag pennies off the top of the shot clock with ease.

He played at 279 at the start of the season. We need to build up his lower body/lower back muscle more than having him lose overall weight.

Originally Posted by ACanadian

Nope Val shot better from the FT line, that cancels out all other stats.